Embryonic Stem Cells and Stem Cell Technology - Essay Example

Embryonic Cells The medical technological advancement in the field of embryonic stem cell research for therapeutic purposes has stirred up hot debate not only a national level but on a global level as well. I am very sure that not all of us will agree with the fact that the medical advancement using stem cells research is perhaps the zenith of medical research and a boon for human health. However, humans often tend to make the most important decisions and adopt wrong notions without gaining detailed knowledge about something. What are embryonic stem cells and stem cell technology? In 1998, the stunning promise of embryonic stem cells was discovered, and it was thought that we just might be on the threshold of an age of miracles (Cobb,2013).“Physiological studies have shown that pluripotent stem cells or embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into any kind of cell. When an egg is fertilized and it reaches the blastocyst stage i.e. 4-5 days post fertilization, the embryonic cells are formed. During normal growth these cells would differentiate into different specialized and help the baby grow in the womb.  “Stem cells are self-renewing, unspecialised cells that can give rise to multiple types all of specialized cells of the body” (Grier,2006) Stem cell technology involves the usage of this concept and derivation of stem cells from embryos such that the cells can be used for various therapeutic purposes and medical treatments. The procedure involves isolation of the embryonic cells from the blastocyst, artificial cell culturing using broth medium which allows cell growth to give rise to an embryonic cell line and finally stimulation of differentiation of these cells to form desired and specific cells and tissues as required. Myths and Facts The myth is embryos are killed while harvestation of embryonic stems cells. Couples opting for IVF often have 2-3 extra embryos which they do not use and initially these embryos would end up as biomedical wastes. However, now these embryos are used for research purposes for extraction of embryonic cells which may be maintained as culture sunder laboratory conditions. Yes, it does mean that the embryo will be destroys but one needs to understand that the embryo is not a baby and is only a cluster of a few cells. It lacks organs or even lacks the human form.”Induced pluripotent embryo cells are not human organism” (Huarte & Suarez,2011) and hence ethical questions must not be raised. It rather looks like a ball than a human. Even if it was not harvested, the embryo would have to be thrown away anyways. Many have the opinion and in order to harvest cells abortion needs to be carries out. This is completely untrue since in-vitro embryos are sued from the lab dish and abortion is not a part of this at all. Another myth is that these stem cells can be used to create a whole new person. There is something called ethics in our field and we need to work within certain limitations. Human cloning is banned and these cells would never be used to create a whole new being. Benefits of using Embryonic cells Embryonic cell technology has a number of therapeutic benefits to offer. The cells can not only help cure devastating diseases but can also help in regenerative personal medicine purposes. Cultures of embryonic stems cells may be used for transplant therapies i.e. in therapies that would require replacement of a damaged body cells or tissues. Parkinson’s disease, is one of the most dangerous neurodegenerative disease of our times and the only cure that the medical field can offer are embryonic stem cells. Yes, medical doctors consider these stem cells as the only way to grow dopaminergic neurons which can help replace the dead neurons and help in treating the problem “Unlike an organ transplant, where a damaged or diseased tissue is removed and then replaced with a comparable organ from a donor, stem cell therapies would involve integration of replacement cells into the existing tissues of the patient” (Condic,2007). In fact, embryonic stem cells are the sole answer to many diseases to which we had no cure before like cancer, cardiac diseases, ALS, juvenile diabetes etc. Other potential benefits Embryonic stem cells do not only offer immense potential for usage for treating diseases and ailments but also provides scope for researchers to study the details of human development. Stem cells are the “sin quan nun for their study” (Maters et al,2007) since they are important research tools. Development of congenital birth defects and malformations at the very early stages of the embryo is something that remains unclear to developmental biologists and stem cells because of their immensely undifferentiated form would help in understanding the basis of disease formation and other problems. Even chromosomal abnormalities maybe studied with the help of embryonic stem cells. One of the most important potential usages of embryonic stem cells is in the field of medicine or drug testing. Human drugs are mostly tested on human volunteers or on animal models like mice or guinea pigs. However, even here ethical concerns shroud the matter of drug testing since drugs maybe potentially harmful to the beings. With the existence of human embryonic stem cells, it becomes widely possible to differentiate them and test the effect of the newly developed drugs on them and look for side effects without the apprehension of causing damage to something. It is not only drug testing that would be studies but the long term effects of drugs on human cells or prediction of action of drugs on human cells makes embryonic stem cells an economical and a much better choice for drug testing. Research has shown these stem cells to be useful for testing cancer drugs as well (Persson & Stellan, 2008) Toxin evaluation or screening could be done on these cells to help us understand the effects of potential toxins of the body of humans. Why use embryonic cells when we have adult stem cells? Each of us has undifferentiated cells found in our bodies known as adult or somatic stem cells. These undifferentiated cells too maybe used for treating various problems and ailments. One may question that whereas harvesting of embryonic stem cells requires embryo destruction, no such ethical problem lies whilst harvesting stem cells from adult tissues. It is true, it must be remembered that not all adults have enough cells for therapeutic purposes and in some cases these cell cultures fail to grow in-vitro. In these cases where stem cells are required but cannot be harvested from the body of the adult we need embryonic stem cells to help us provide sufficient treatment to the patient. Conclusion Our goal is to put human health first. A lot of people had these misconceptions about embryonic stem cells and apprehensions about research related to them. However, after today I hope I have been able to draw your attention to some the benefits and proven myths regarding the issue. I hope you will use your sound judgment when you asked about supporting embryonic stem cell technology. REFERENCES Cabot, Tyler. "Whatever Happened To Stem Cells?." Esquire 159.4 (2013): 116-150. Condic, Maureen L. "What We Know About Embryonic Stem Cells." First Things: A Monthly Journal Of Religion & Public Life 169 (2007): 25-29. Grier, Erik V. Embryonic Stem Cell Research. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2006. Print. Huarte, Joachim, and Antoine Suarez. Is This Cell a Human Being?: Exploring the Status of Embryos, Stem Cells and Human-Animal Hybrids. Berlin: Springer Berlin, 2011. Print. Masters, John R., Palsson, Bernhard, and Thomson, James A.. Embryonic Stem Cells. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007. Persson, Anders, and Stellan Welin. Contested Technologies: Xenotransplantation and Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2008. Print. Read More